God's Hand in Everything

It is exciting for me to serve a God that oversees even the little things in our lives! This past weekend I went to the airport twice to pick up fellow missionaries. Bill Patterson came in with his family on Friday night. Information at the airport told one fellow that the plane was landing at 9:10, but really the plane did not land until 11:30 which meant we spent several hours waiting at the airport.

Their plane finally landed. It always takes on hour or so for passengers to pass through immigration, get their bags, and pass through their final check. But we waited and waited. We saw Billy Patterson several times as he walked from the luggage belt over to the customs officials. It turns out that he lost a bag. After filling out the report, he finally exited the customs area a little after one in the morning. I took him and his family to a guest apartment, helped him get his things up to the third floor, and arrived home about 2 AM.

But that's not the end of the story. Daniel Elliott who was returning from a furlough arrived two nights later on Sunday night. Bill had checked with the airport about his bag, but it had still not arrived. So Sunday I picked up the claim slip from Bill and told him that I would try to locate his bag while I was at the airport picking up the Elliotts.

Arriving at the airport, I asked a lady who was unlocking a door marked luggage storage if my friend's bag had arrived. She directed me to a security guard who took me within the customs area. He instructed me to wait. I had not waited very long when an older customs lady came over. I explained to her that my friend had lost a bag on Friday's flight and since I was at the airport to pick up someone already was wondering if my friend's missing bag had arrived yet. She informed me that there had not been another Korean Air flight since Bill's flight on Friday. Therefore, there was no possibility that his bag had already arrived. But she gave me permission to go over to the luggage belt and see for myself if his bag came in with this flight. It is a rare thing for a non-passenger to get permission to enter the luggage pick-up area.

Bill's bag was one of the first bags off the belt. It had been headed for Kathmandu when Korean Air realized their mistake and stuck it on the Elliott's flight. Gratefully, I retrieved it and waited for Daniel's family to arrive from immigration. Daniel's family of six had 15 checked bags with them besides hand baggage. Since all of his children are under the age of seven, he was going to have a difficult time managing to get all his luggage through customs without much help.

I was able to help him push one of his four carts through customs. The customs lady who was so helpful to me earlier was also helpful to Daniel and helped to speed us through customs. She even pushed the Elliotts youngest child in his stroller through the airport.

So Bill's missing bag arrived, though a few days late; and it offered me the opportunity to enter the baggage area of the airport and help Daniel and his family with their bags. God is good all the time and directs even the little events in our lives to His glory.